Maybe I've Stopped Running
by Cattypatra
Summary: Sora's been running away from Riku for eight years because he can't stand Riku's love. However, a bush walk, the word beautiful and a perfect sky might change all of that, and maybe they can find a way to stop yearning for adventure together. SoraxRiku


_Riku turned. His silver hair ghosting across his shoulders. Eye questioning. Always questioning. Burning deep inside with a fire, a fire that could never be put out. He opened his lips, trying to find the words. He knew what he was going to say. It was what he always said._

"_Why?"_

_Sora never had an answer. No matter how many times Riku asked him, phrased his carefully planned and constructed sentences, he never knew what to say. Tiptoeing around the issue. This time, he didn't say anything. He remained silent, waiting for Riku to continue._

_Blue eyes reaching up to the emerald pair._

"_Why won't you let me love you?" Riku asked further, voice wisping around him._

_Sora shut his eyes._

_He still didn't have an answer._

- - - - - - -

Destiny Islands hadn't changed that much. It was still the same.

Beautiful scenery, palm trees, surf, the over hanging clouds in the flawless blue sky. Lazy days spent in front of the warming sun, wiggling your toes in the rich golden sand. It was amazing; tourists flocked there, hearing about the legendary waters and traditional buildings.

Sora was sick of it. Seriously sick of it.

"Come on Riku, let's go somewhere!" Sora whined.

Him and his best friend Riku were sitting on Paopu Island, observing the slowly lapping waves.

"Why can't we stay here?" Riku asked. He liked the peace and quiet.

"Because it's boring. Always the same. We need to do something different!"

Riku sighed. "But I don't want to do anything different."

"Yes you do," Sora said.

"No, I don't."

Sora paid Riku no heed as he jumped off the low growing paopu trunk. "Come on, lets take a boat to one of the other islands and go on a bush walk," Sora suggested.

Riku sent Sora a glance. "No. Way," was his simple reply.

"Just because you're a slob doesn't meant that you can't come. It's not that much of a workout. We can head over to Kalabash Bay and even have a picnic."

Riku nodded a vicious no, causing ripples of silver hair to cascade down his back. He crossed his arms over his chest and stuck out his chin stubbornly. "No, I am not going on a bushwalk."

"Come on Riku, it will be fun."

"Why can't we do something fun here? That doesn't require too much energy?"

Sora sent him a sarcastic smile. "Yeah, like what?"

"How about blitz ball with Wakka? You can play and I can be a lazy ass."

"I'm sick of Blitz ball, it's getting old and repetitive," Sora said huffily.

"Why don't you play with Tidus?"

"Tidus's idea of fun is hitting me with a large stick."

"We can go surfing," Riku suggested.

"Earth to Riku, we did that yesterday."

"Take a walk around the island?"

"Done that eight times today."

"Pick mushrooms?"

"I have more than enough mushrooms than I could ever eat at home already, thank you very much."

"Make hot chocolate?"

"Okay, that was a desperate suggestion. It's the middle of summer."

"Go for a swim?" Riku asked.

"What? And run into Kairi and Selphie giggling about their new shells that they've found along the shoreline? What are you, insane?" Sora asked incredulously.

"Well there's got to be something that we can do here!" Riku exclaimed, throwing his arms up into the air.

"Out of suggestions already?" Sora asked mockingly.

"Ice-cream?" Riku enquired timidly.

"Do you want me to get fat?"

Riku's shoulders slumped, he knew he was defeated.

"Why Kalabash? Isn't that a bit far away?"

Sora smirked. "Just think of it as an adventure."

Riku rolled his eyes. "Didn't we get more than our fair share of adventures already?"

Sora nodded a no. And even Riku knew what he said wasn't true.

They yearned for an adventure. It was a deep pull, inside of them. It was at the very core of their existence, to do something, to be on the move. Riku may have quieted down in the last few years, after Kingdom Hearts, but that didn't mean much. If Riku wasn't doing something, Riku wasn't Riku anymore. The same went for Sora. They were bored of their mundane life, even though Riku refused to show it.

"Is Kairi going to come with us?" Riku implored.

"No, I said earlier that she was busy collecting shells with Selphie, weren't you listening?"

"Not really," Riku admitted with a patronising grin.

Sora punched him playfully on the shoulder, causing the older male to laugh.

"Alright, I'll come on a bushwalk with you; it might be a good idea for me to get off my ass."

"Yeah, because it's getting big!" Sora teased.

He quickly dashed away before his friend could inflict bodily harm.

"Hey, that was a low blow!" Riku squawked.

"But you know that it was the truth, Riku!" Sora crowed, racing across the creaky wooden bridge connecting Paopu Island to the main one.

Riku leapt off the tree and raced after him as Sora led the way to the docks.

- - - - - - -

_Sora and Riku were standing by the ocean, content to watch the waves lapping against the wet shores. In and out, in and out. The sun marked its passage in the sky, and was sinking into the ethereal water, casting beams of light everywhere._

_Silence hung thickly in the air. But that was okay, the two of them didn't need to say anything. They hadn't needed to speak at all that day. They were content to watch and yearn for something that they would probably never have._

_They didn't feel… complete, as it were._

"_So, how's Kairi?" Riku asked, as the sun continued to drown in the blue ocean._

"_She turned me down," Sora replied briskly._

"_Why?"_

_Sora didn't answer._

"_Why, Sora?"_

"_She said that she loved someone else. No one's ever loved me," Sora said, his voice tinged with bitterness._

"_I love you," Riku said simply._

_Sora sighed, but didn't turn to look at Riku._

"_You don't count, Riku."_

"_Why not?"_

"_Because you're a guy and I'm a guy… and because the hero always gets the girl," Sora conceded._

"_But you didn't," Riku pointed out._

"_I know, all I got was you!" Sora snapped._

_Silence fell again. But this time it wasn't the silence held between the closest of friends, it was tinged with bitterness, and wafted stalely through the air._

"_Is it really that bad?" Riku asked._

_Sora turned sad eyes upon the silver haired man. He was still looking out to sea, something sad stirring within his drawn face. Sorrow? Despair? Sora couldn't guess. It seemed deeper than that, an ache that lay buried within him, that could never be shaken off._

"_Sorry, Riku, I didn't mean for it to sound like that."_

_Riku sighed. "There's no point apologising, Sora. You said, and you meant it."_

_The silence wrapped around the two solitary figures once more._

_Seconds passed, turned into minutes, minutes into hours. And the sun drowned._

"_When will you stop running away?" Riku asked suddenly, the words almost lost in the dark night._

"_Huh?" Sora replied._

"_When will you let me love you?"_

"_Riku, you know I don't feel that way," Sora said nervously._

"_Is it me? Or are you just afraid to be loved by someone, anyone?"_

_Once again, Sora didn't have an answer._

- - - - - _- _-

"Sora! You said this was going to be an easy walk!" Riku complained.

His muscles were aching, his hair was sweat slipped against his face, neck and shoulders, and his feet felt like they were about to fall off. Sora turned around. For all that Riku was tired, Sora was energised. He wasn't sweating, his breath came easy, unlike Riku's stumbling pants. It didn't help Riku's ego any that Sora was carrying a huge pack with their picnic blanket and food, while Riku was only carrying his water bottle.

"But this is an easy walk, Riku."

"No, it's not. It's all up-hill!" Riku whined, while he stopped.

"Come on Riku! No stopping! We're nearly there!"

"Hell no, I need a breather."

Riku sat down gingerly on a rock next to a gnarled tree. He wiped a hand across his wet forehead and drew in a few deep breaths, his lungs labouring.

Sora sighed and stood by his friend, waiting for him to get sufficient amounts of air into his lungs.

After Kingdom Hearts, Riku hadn't been as bothered to fight as he had before. He'd let himself go, in a way. Sure, he never became fat, he was still as lithe and skinny as when he'd stopped. Didn't mean in the slightest that he was fit. At all.

He had decided to leave Sora to such things, because Sora was the hero now.

"You're so lazy, Riku," Sora drawled.

"Well sorry for not being a walking freak, like you. If you had the chance you'd be on the go all the time," Riku said, sticking his tongue out playfully.

"But if you had the chance, you'd be on the go all the time too, wouldn't you?" Sora asked, suddenly serious.

Riku looked up startled, their light, teasing conversation had taken a much deeper turn. Riku sighed.

"Yeah, if I had the chance, I'd be with you every step of the way. It's been to quiet after everything happened. How can we keep going about our lives, after our adventures?" Riku asked.

"That's what I've been thinking about," Sora said.

He flashed Riku a grim smile. "But there isn't much to do here, is there?"

"No, there isn't," Riku agreed.

"But if you could, would you do it all again?" Sora asked.

"In a heart-beat," Riku answered straight away. He didn't even need to think about it. The answer was as plain as day.

Sora nodded. "Yeah, so would I. I would go through all the pain again. Because it was worth it."

"I don't know if it was worth it, but I would do it all again anyway."

Sora looked towards his green eyes friend again. "You don't think it was worth it?"

"For you, yes, it was, for me? There were many parts of the adventure that you missed, Sora."

"You would rather that the worlds be left to the heartless, then?" Sora asked, his voice rising.

Riku swivelled his head, his hair sliding across his sweat soaked skin. "Sometimes, I think that it's better now. Heartless gone. Other times? Well, would it really have been that bad? Sometimes I think we would have been better off with the heartless," Riku conceded.

Sora didn't have an answer to that either.

To avoid an uncomfortable and awkward silence Sora took a few steps away from Riku. "Come on, it's only a little further," he called to Riku.

With a groan of protest, Riku hauled himself to his feet and walked behind Sora.

"Nearly there," Sora repeated.

"You said that an hour ago."

"That was just to get you to shut up, this time it's for real," Sora said.

"You better be right," Riku grumbled angrily.

They walked for a few moments in silence, ducking underneath twisting overhanging branches. Still they walked, steadily uphill, until the path opened up and became flat, and still, there was no end in sight.

"Sora! My feet are killing me!"

"We're nearly there!"

"ARGH!"

Before Riku could react, Sora pushed aside some underbrush, Riku followed.

And then they were outside.

They were on a grassy plain. It was green as far as the eye could see. The sun sat high in the sky, its rays gently warming up the air. The ground looked like rippling velvet the small, warm breeze.

"My god Sora, this place is beautiful."

"Of course it is, you just wouldn't believe me."

Riku stared at Sora. "I am never going to doubt you again.

Sora laughed. "You better not, you might hurt my feelings."

They walked to roughly the centre of the paddock, and then Sora lay down his bag. After rummaging around in it for a few moments, he produced a large dark blue towel and laid it on the ground.

He threw himself down onto it, and laid there, his face staring into the upturned side. A few moments later, Riku joined him, not to close, but not to far. They lay side by side, Sora with his hands behind his head, Riku with his on his stomach, staring up into the vague swirls of cloud. Two people from many walks of life, content to sit in silence.

The yearning for adventure lessened just the smallest amount.

"I'm glad that I decided to come with you," Riku said after a time.

"Decided? I practically forced you," Sora snorted.

"Yeah, and for that I'm thankful. So yeah, thanks."

"That's okay. What else are friends for?"

Riku smiled, but didn't turn to face Sora. Besides, looking at the sky was like looking at Sora anyway. Sora was the sky, vast, light, and always beyond reach. It was like nothing you could do could ever change that.

"It's nice here, I wanted to share it with you," Sora said, shaking Riku out of his thoughts.

"Well, it was nice to share."

"Of course it was."

Riku shifted slightly, and idly stretched out one of his long legs.

"I was going to show Kairi this place," Sora admitted softly.

Riku turned his head, giving Sora his full attention.

"But she doesn't love me. So whatever, I can barely stand to be with her for to long. It hurts too much."

Sora turned to face Riku, and this time it was Riku's turn to give Sora a slow, sad smile.

"Now you know how I feel," Riku whispered.

Sora's upper body shot up, leaving him in a sitting position. "Riku!" he cried indignantly.

"I am only speaking the truth Sora," Riku muttered softly.

Riku turned his face back to the sky, and slowly, the tension between them eased. After a few moments, Sora lay back down and joined Riku staring at the clouds.

"What a funny pair we make," Riku said suddenly, but his voice was devoid of mirth.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that," Sora offered.

Riku's lips twitched in the beginning of a smirk, but he resisted.

"Darkness, light. Good and evil. What does it all mean anyway?"

Sora let out a small laugh. "No one knows that."

"Yeah, even Kingdom Hearts couldn't make up its mind. Light or darkness. I guess in the end, it was neither, was it?"

"Because the closer you are to the light, the stronger the darkness become's."

"Exactly."

"Hey Riku, do you think that we were the first?"

"Huh?"

Sora sighed. "You know, the first keyblade wielders. Or was the battle between light and darkness the first. Makes you wonder if there were people before us, or if we were somehow different."

"I never thought about it that way," Riku admitted.

"Yeah, I guess I've been thinking a lot lately."

"Haven't we all."

They lapsed back into silence again, content for the moment to watch the world go by.

The food was left forgotten as the sun rose higher and higher into the sky. The grass whirled about them, and still they didn't move.

"It's beautiful here," Sora said softly, as much to himself as to Riku.

"Yeah, but it's not as beautiful as you," Riku breathed.

Sora turned his head to the side, he had no energy to get up. It was as if, all his strength had left him.

"What did you say?" Sora asked.

Riku shifted. His pushed himself up on his forearms and crawled closer to Sora, so that his face was directly over the younger man's.

"I said that this place isn't as beautiful as you."

Sora stared up at Riku. It was as if a deadly calm had overcome him. Shouldn't be denying the comment venomously? Telling Riku to go away before he slogged him? Saying that he loved Kairi with all his heart? … What was happening?

"Riku, you're making me uncomfortable," Sora said.

Riku shook his head rapidly in a no. "I don't care anymore, Sora!"

Sora snapped out of his reverie, he put his hands against the other man's chest and tried to push him away. However, he couldn't budge Riku. It was if Riku was winning by sheer determination.

"Riku, you know I'm not like that!"

"I can't take it anymore Sora! You've been running away from me for eight years," Riku said.

Sora looked lost.

"When will you stop running?"

Sora didn't have an answer. He knew Riku wouldn't press him. Riku never did…

"When will you stop running!" Riku demanded.

Sora looked at his friend in something akin to fear. He had never seen Riku like this before. He would never push for an answer, and he had never seen him this angry, or hurt.

Riku leaned down towards him. And somehow, Sora couldn't move.

Riku had been chasing him for eight years, right? Riku had liked him since he was fourteen, and now they were twenty-two, and Riku still didn't have him. And maybe it was okay, Riku wanted Sora like this. Sora couldn't take that away from him. Maybe, maybe just for a moment. Sora couldn't deny Riku that.

However, as Riku drew nearer and nearer, he looked past him, into the sky, until his view was covered by myriads of thick silver hair and blazing green eyes.

And then Riku forced his lips onto Sora's. Sora struggled for a moment, his hands pushing against Riku's arms, trying to dislodge him. But Riku only pressed himself onto Sora more firmly, cutting off his struggled.

Gently, and so slowly, that at first Sora didn't realise what it was, Riku's tongue traced across his bottom lip. Sora nearly gasped, but remembered that if he did Riku would have full access to his mouth. His clamped his lips together.

Riku reached up one of his free hands and gently held Sora's nose.

That was so not fair, Sora thought to himself. But he couldn't last long, he knew Riku wasn't going to let him breathe until he opened his mouth. He waited as long as he could, Riku's tongue tracing and memorising every detail of his lips before Sora was forced to open them, looking for air. As soon as he did so, Riku released his nose, and delved his tongue straight into Sora's mouth.

Sora's eyes widened, and he resumed his struggled as Riku's tongue slid over his own and explored his teeth.

It was so… weird.

However, realising that Riku was practically crushing him, he knew he had no chance to escape, so he stopped flailing, and hoped that Riku would get over it sooner rather than later.

However, Sora's hopes were shattered because as soon as Sora stopped struggling, Riku got a little more adventurous. It seemed that he through that Sora had finally given in.

His kiss became vicious and needy, his mouth bruising Sora's with its intensity. One of his hands trailed up Sora's side, as he pulled up the flimsy material of Sora's light blue shirt. His hand roamed across Sora's delicate stomach muscles before moving upwards to his chest. He grabbed one of Sora's nipples, twisting it slightly.

Before he realised what he was doing, Sora let out a moan. He caught himself, shocked, just I time to see Riku's face shoot him a triumphant smirk. The older male then turned his attention to Sora's neck, nipping and suckling the sensitive skin there. Sora shuddered in Riku's gasp, trying desperately not to respond into his touch.

After that, Riku lowered his head to Sora's currently unoccupied nipple, and without so much as a warning, lowered his mouth to it, sucking and kneading it in his mouth gently.

Sora's body arched up underneath Riku's as his breathing became ragged.

Riku grinned and then returned his lips to Sora's, exploring his mouth deeply, and encouraging Sora's tongue to twine with his own. Sora's refused to respond, but Riku didn't mind.

While Sora was preoccupied with he kiss, Riku's right hand made its way from Sora's nipple to the waist of Sora's shorts. Through the rough black fabric, Riku cupped Sora's length.

With strength Riku didn't know Sora possessed, Sora pushed him away, sending Riku sprawling. He desperately tried to re-arrange his shirt, so that excess skin was not showing. He didn't want to tempt Riku to molest him again.

Riku chuckled.

Sora's mouth fell open, as he stared at Riku wordlessly.

"See, I told you that you were more beautiful than this place," Riku said lightly, a smile lighting his eyes.

"No, I'm not," Sora replied.

Riku shrugged. "Suit yourself, but to me, you are."

Riku lay back down on the dark blue picnic mat.

Some moments later, Sora joined him.

"So, have you stopped running away yet?" Riku enquired.

Sora could answer this one. "I'm not sure," he admitted truthfully.

Riku smiled. He leaned his face against one of his hands and stared at Sora, who was laying a few centimetres away from him. "I like that answer a lot better than the silence you used to greet me with," Riku said.

Sora grunted. "Well be happy, then, because I don't have many answers left."

Riku lay back down, and they went about looking up at the sky, which was still a rich shade of blue. It was like the day didn't want to end. Didn't want to become night, because then it would all be over. A small breeze stirred, carrying with it the slight scent of pollen.

They were best friends, looking up at the sky. It was silent, it was perfect. Were they lovers? Who knew, but they had always been thee, and they always would. The closer you were to Sora, the closer you were to Riku, just like the light and the shadows that it throws. But maybe it would take Sora a while to realise that. Riku would wait, he always had.

"So, Sora, do you love me?"

Sora didn't have answer, so he said nothing.

Riku laughed. "Wouldn't want you to change too much in one day, would we?" he asked humorously.

Sora smiled.

He stood up, and shook his brown hair from his eyes.

"Race you?" he offered Riku.

"Huh?"

"You heard me, race you?"

"What are we, fourteen?" Riku asked.

Sora grinned. "I am if you are."

Riku grinned I return, and stood up, Sora shot off as fast as his legs could carry him, Riku in hot pursuit. Many years, it had been the opposite, Riku out in front, streaming away from Sora, but their roles had changed, and somehow, they really didn't mind. Funny how things can change in eight years.

They laughed as they bounded away, picnic forgotten…

Destiny Islands forgotten. Somehow, both of them knew that they weren't going to go back, they knew that here was nothing there left for them. But… Maybe that was okay. Maybe that was the way things were meant to be.

"So, what are we running away from now, Sora?" Riku cried happily.

"Boredom!" Sora replied.

And it wasn't a lie. Away from anguish, away from the despair that their home gave them. Away to something else.

"You sure you still don't love me?" Riku asked, as he fell in step behind Sora.

Sora turned back, eyes full of light.

"Do you think you deserve to be loved?" he asked breathlessly.

"Maybe one day."

"Then maybe I'll love you one day!" Sora screamed as he put on an extra burst of speed, getting away from Riku.

"Hey, wait up!" Riku cried.

But he knew that Sora would wait for him. Sora always waited for him.

_- - - - - - - _

"_I love you, Kairi."_

"_No you don't Sora, don't be silly." Kairi had laughed._

"_But I love you!"_

"_I don't want o be loved by you, Sora."_

_It had hurt Sora deeply. And that was why he had said it to Riku._

_- - - - - - - _

_Riku turned to grin at Sora, eyes full of light._

"_Best friends?"_

"_Forever," Sora agreed._

_They joined hands, melting in each other's grins._

"_We'll go everywhere together, won't we?" Riku asked._

"_Of course."_

_So what if Sora had lied? He could make up for it now._

_- - - - - - - _

And as they ran, something happened.

Sora knew that he wasn't really running away.

And the yearning for adventure lessened just a little bit more.

- - - - - - -

Wow, that took a long time. Did you like it? I got the idea after I went for a bush walk around my house on the weekend, after my school camp.

It was great, and I could totally imagine Sora and Riku doing that. The idea started out as funny, but turned serious faster than I could keep track of. Anywho…

Did you like it? I certainly enjoyed writing it, and that was my first time ever writing about Sora and Riku making out… or anyone, for that matter. Was it okay? Feedback, please?


End file.
